Call for investigation of government funded vote buying
THE CITIZENS ALLIANCE FOR JUSTICE has asked, Abigail Benzadón, director of the National Authority for Transparency, to create a committee to investigate the scandal of delivering millions of dollars to community boards for political campaigning during the election.
According to Magaly Castillo, executive director of the Alliance, in recent weeks there have been reported in the media the transfer of millions heading for the years 2013 and 2014 , several community boards by the Ministry of Economy and Finance " without knowing how these resources were used and whether there was adequate control over their management ."
Research published Wednesday June 4 in La Prensa, reveals that the National Assistance Program (PAN) allocated millions for the exclusive use of the deputies during January to April this year.
The money was used to buy bags of food, school supplies and sports, building materials and appliances that would be given away by deputies in the electoral contest.
The millionaire assignments, according to research, came from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) , directed by Frank De Lima. This entity transferred to PAN, between 2010 and 2011 , the sum of $155 million for exclusive use of and opposition deputies .
According to Castillo, the Panamanian community has the right to know how management gave community boards “these millions of dollars," reports La Prensa.
Therefore, she added, the work of the commission, which would be composed of representatives of civil society, should be directed to access the information, make proposals to " stop this type of management without control of state resources and the if there is evidence of the commission of criminal acts the same may be communicated to the appropriate administrative and judicial authorities "